More than 400 BI employees probed, sanctioned for corruption since 2016

PHOTO by ED LUSTAN / INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — More than 400 employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) have been “investigated and sanctioned” for corruption since 2016.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente disclosed this during the signing of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission’s (PACC) Anti-Corruption Manifesto in an online event on Wednesday.

Morente and PACC Commissioner Greco Belgica led the event attended by 150  people, including officials of the two agencies.

“The signing of this manifesto is a symbol of our continuous commitment to finally cleanse the Bureau of the evils of corruption,” Morente was quoted in BI’s statement on Thursday.

“More than 400 employees have been investigated or sanctioned since 2016, following our aggressive fight to weed out corruption,” he added. “I take an iron fist stance on this evil, as it has no place amongst our ranks.”

The BI said Morente has declared a one-strike policy against erring employees and warned corruption allegations would lead to an employee’s immediate relief.

Aside from the said policy, BI said they have also adopted other measures to curb corruption, like the creation of a 24/7 feedback channel through Immigration Helpline in 2016; eliminating red tape by reducing the number of process steps and signatories and by modernizing systems; decentralization of airport units to maintain checks and balances at the airport; and activation of the E-Gate System, a man-less counter used in processing arriving Filipino passengers, among others.

“These improvements have been proven effective, as seen in the most recent audit of the ARTA (Anti Red Tape Authority) on the BI, wherein no major adverse findings have been reported,” Morente noted.

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